National News
Mayor of Paris to swim in the Seine today - Nine days ahead of the Olympic Games in Paris, the mayor Anne Hidalgo has kept her promise and will swim in the Seine today to show that it's clean for the Paris Olympics' outdoor swimming events. Despite a €1.4 billion investment to prevent sewage leaks, the Seine's water quality remains questionable, repeatedly failing tests before the Games start on July 26th. But since the beginning of July, with heavy rains finally giving way to sunnier weather, samples have shown the river to be ready for the open-water swimming and triathlon and for the 65-year-old mayor of Paris. Hidalgo is set to splash into the murky waters of the Seine this Wednesday morning.
Macron accepts resignation from Prime Minister - Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron, who had promised to join bathers in the Seine, will not be present today, as the head of state is occupied by a political crisis following his decision for the snap parliamentary elections last month. It was on Tuesday that Macron formally accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Gabriel Attal. According to a press release from the Elysee Palace, Macron has asked Attal to continue running the caretaker government until the appointment of the next government.
While the left-wing coalition the New Popular Front (NFP) emerged as the largest bloc following the parliamentary elections, infighting among the member-parties has meant that they have failed to put forward the name of their prime ministerial candidate.
French lawmakers are set to meet on Thursday to elect the president of the National Assembly, in two votes requiring a majority of the 577-seat body. If the first two votes don't elect someone, the candidate with the largest support in parliament will be selected in a third vote.
Following their resignation, Attal and his fellow ministers who are lawmakers will be allowed to vote in the election of the National Assembly president, potentially providing key ballots in the divided body.
Local
Forest fire - In local news, a forest fire has broken out in Peillon. Firefighters intervened on Tuesday evening on the route des Novaines shortly after 8pm along with water bomber helicopters. A hectare of land was destroyed, no homes were threatened, and no injuries reported.
Post office break down fixed - Things are back to normal at Post Offices across France after an IT breakdown paralysed services on Tuesday afternoon. In the Alpes-Maritimes, several post offices were impacted for more than 24 hours, notably in Nice Notre-Dame, Magnan and Cannes la Bocca.
Power cut - Meanwhile, homes in Hyères in the Var have been without electricity after a power cut following a fire on Tuesday afternoon. Certain districts east of the city were affected after a fire broke out on the roadside causing damage to a nearby power line. Services were expected to return to normal by early evening.
End of an era - It’s goodbye to one of the best-known nightspots in Old Nice as Les “3 Diables” on the flower market is to close. The emblematic pub has brightened up Nice nightlife for decades and will now become a restaurant. According to the new owners it will open next summer after renovation work.
Sting launches festival in Toulon – Finally, British singer Sting has launched the first edition of the “Le Son by Toulon” festival, bursting onto stage shortly before 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday evening. Accompanied by his guitarist and drummer Sting set the Zénith esplanade alight for the first concert of the festival much to the delight of 9,000 fans.
Business
Elon Musk has said he will move the headquarters of two of his most high-profile companies, rocket firm SpaceX and social media platform X, out of California to Texas. The reason given has been his opposition to a new Californian state law which bans schools from requiring staff to disclose information about a child's gender identity, including to parents. Musk wrote on social media "this is the last straw”. Musk had already moved Tesla's headquarters to Texas in 2021. The issue of what schools should tell parents about their children's gender identities has become a major topic of debate in the US. Mr Musk, who has a transgender daughter, has previously said he "supports trans" while expressing impatience with pronouns, which he has described as an "aesthetic nightmare".
US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has said that he supports TikTok despite a potential ban looming if the Chinese-parent company ByteDance fails to divest the short video app's U.S. assets. Trump told Bloomberg "I’m for TikTok because you need competition. If you don’t have TikTok, you have Facebook and Instagram”. Trump previously called TikTok which is used by 170 million Americans, a threat but then joined it last month.
Dozens of tonnes of fake olive oil worth more than €900,000 have been seized in Italy. Authorities confiscated a total of 71 tonnes of the "oily substance", with 42 tonnes of it boxed and ready to be sold as Italian extra virgin olive oil. Seven people were allegedly behind the counterfeit goods.
Grandparents in Sweden have become eligible for paid parental leave under a new law aimed at extending childcare benefits beyond children's immediate family. The programme, launched at the start of this month, allows parents to transfer a portion of their parental leave days to other caretakers, including grandparents. According to the Swedish government's Social Insurance Agency the law will enable single parents to transfer up to 90 days of paid leave to other The move comes 50 years after Sweden became the first ever nation to introduce paid parental leave that could be split between both parents with many countries, including the UK, following suit.
And- The UK has entered “a new bronze age” as sales of fake tan have risen by 16% compared with last year amid miserable weather. The self-tan market is valued at £582.2m in the UK, and according to beauty product manufactures THG Labs is expected to grow to £746.3m by 2027. It has the second-biggest global market for self-tan with health concerns about UV exposure also helping to trigger the rise in popularity of self-tan products, especially among younger consumers.
Sport
Football – Gareth Southgate the Three Lions manager has announced that he is stepping aside, resigning as England manager. England have been beaten in back-to-back European Championships finals, with the 2-1 loss in Berlin at the weekend following the penalty shootout defeat to Italy at Wembley in 2021. Southgate’s contract with the Football Association ran until December, although the FA wanted him to stay on and manage England at the 2026 World Cup. His future is in his own hands and Southgate decided to walk away rather than have a crack at a fifth major tournament and try to finally end England’s wait for a major trophy. Explaining his decision to resign on Tuesday, Southgate said: ‘As a proud Englishman, it has been the honour of my life to play for England and to manage England. ‘It has meant everything to me, and I have given it my all. But it’s time for change, and for a new chapter.’
In other football news, Chelsea are investigating a video posted on social media by midfielder Enzo Fernandez which the French Football Federation says includes an alleged "racist and discriminatory" chant. The FFF said it would file a complaint to world governing body Fifa over the video featuring a song sung by some of the Argentina squad about France's players.
And Kylian Mbappé has finally put on a Real Madrid shirt, fulfilling his childhood dream in front of a packed Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. Nearly 80,000 fans were on hand on Tuesday to welcome the 25-year-old French star during his official presentation as the club's newest player. Mbappé entered the stage set-up at the stadium to loud cheers from the Madrid fans. Wearing the number nine jersey, Mbappé smiled broadly and waved to the fans who chanted his name, then embraced Pérez and former Madrid player and coach Zinedine Zidane, who invited Mbappé to visit the Spanish club for the first time when he was just a teenager. "It's an incredible day for me," Mbappé told the crowd, in Spanish. "Since being a kid I dreamed about playing for Madrid and today I'm here. It means a lot to me."
Cycling - Belgium's Jasper Philipsen sprinted to his third stage victory at the 2024 Tour de France on stage 16 on Tuesday. Mark Cavendish, who broke the Tour stage wins record two weeks ago, two weeks ago, crossed the line in 17th position in the final sprint stage of his Tour de France farewell before a mountainous conclusion to this years' race. Today’s Stage 17 is a 177.8km mountain stage from Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux to Superdevoluy in the southern alps.
Cricket - England have recalled pace bowler Mark Wood for the second Test against West Indies at Trent Bridge, starting on Thursday. Wood missed the first Test after being part of the England squad for the T20 World Cup in June.
Weather
A cloudy start, clearing by the afternoon with a moderate breeze. Highs of 27 degrees in Nice and Monaco, 29 degrees in Cannes, 30 degrees in Grasse, 31 degrees in Antibes., 32 degrees in Saint-Tropez, reaching 34 degrees in Hyeres with winds picking up by this afternoon. This evening going down to to 20 degrees along the coast and 19 degrees inland.
The outlook for Thursday and Friday, fine and sunny highs of 36 degrees.
Sunrise 06.04am
Sunset 09.08pm
Beach weather forecast
Sea temperature - Nice 25 degrees.
Air temperature 27° degrees feels like 35°.
Cloudy start with clear skies by this afternoon.
UV level 8
Weather elsewhere
Paris 27° and sunny.
London 24° sunny intervals.
Glasgow 20° light cloud.
Bordeaux 29° sunny.
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